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IN THIS ISSUE
Music and Medicine
Neurology and Functional Medicine
Increase Your Greens
Recipe of the Week
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One good thing about music, when it hits you, you feel no pain.


Bob Marley 

 

Those who dance are considered insane by those who cannot hear the music. 
 

George Carlin 

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Dr. Magryta
Go to www.salisburypediatrics.com,  if you would like to learn about Integrative Medicine or our practice

 

Issue: #11
March 2, 2015
Beautiful Pine and Sun

Volume 5, Letter 11

March 2, 2015

Music as Medicine

 

We have talked about music and learning in the past. We have discussed meditation and DNA longevity. How about music and healing from a stroke?

 

In the April 2015 edition of Scientific American, William Thompson and Gottfried Schlaug give us a glimpse into a new and revolutionary way to heal from a catastrophic stroke that effects Broca's area, the speech center. A tragic story occurred where an 11 year old girl named Laurel suffered a stroke in Broca's area. The affect of the stroke was permanent or so the parents were told. Laurel could understand but not communicate. Locked in verbally. 

 

Then she started a treatment known now as melodic intonation therapy, or singing to trigger another part of the brain to bypass the damaged speech center. The treatment starts with short phrases that are sung in combination with a tapping regimen for the syllables. As the patient improves the phrases and sing song lengthens. Pitch, tone, meter are all adjusted to recruit even more brain areas responsible for speech perception and sensory functions. Different parts of the hemispheres of the brain begin to compensate for the damaged side. 

 

This is a classic case of neural plasticity and recruitment, the ability of the brain to grow new neurons and regenerate in the face of damage. We are seeing this more and more in the literature. It is spawning new companies like Lumosity and other neural training programs. I remember my early years of training in medical school. My neurology rotations were a tour in finding the lesion, naming it and telling the patient that there is nothing that we can do. How far we have come. This is what makes medicine so fantastic. 

 

We know that listening to music is emotional, engaging and social. I still can place experiences in my life to songs. I remember years by the songs that I loved at the time. I remember specific moments with unbelievable clarity when I think of a song like All of my love by Led Zeppelin or Summer Nights by Van Halen. As we learn more about neural plasticity, I am convinced that listening to music is a major advantage in the regeneration of neurons and the preservation of old ones that help with memory. No Alzheimer's here thank you.

 

Stories like Laurel are a shot in the arm for those with disorders of the brain. Read the whole article

 

Music is the greatest art form that there is! (my opinion)

 

 

Dr. M

 

 

 

Alzheimer's Disease and System's Biology

Alzheimer's disease has been a scourge on the elderly for decades. Those days are coming to an end with fascinating research from two leading Neurologists in the United States. Dr. David Perlmutter, author of the #1 bestseller Grain Brain and many articles, and Dr. Dale Bredesen of UCLA and author of hundreds of articles are giving us concrete data on how to help neurobehavioral disorders like autism and Alzheimer's disease.

 

They both have come to the conclusion that the best approach to reversing cognitive decline is through a multi step process that involves modifying lifestyle factors that promote neurodegeneration. In the brain's of these patients there is an imbalance between the signals that make neurons, neural plasticity, versus the signals for neurite retraction and synaptic degeneration, neural degeneration. 

 

After listening to two podcasts by Dr. Jeffrey Bland, I was blown away by the possibilities of neural regeneration if we can shift the lifestyle needle toward health. Dr Brednesen's study is the first in history to show a slowing of cognitive decline and also show signs of reversal!!!

 

See the table in the study for details of the treatment paradigm.

 

Briefly, he is focused on maintaining a healthy diet that prevents blood sugar spikes, inflammation and also has frequent fasting to induce ketosis (acidifying the blood by removing sugar from the diet to burn fat) that is beneficial to the brains's neurons. This is very much like a paleo or Wahl's protocol diet. They optimize minerals and vitamins. They encourage exercise, adequate sleep, cognitive training, stress reduction techniques and other functional medicine based lifestyle modification practices. 

 

In our clinic we are doing similar things in children with neurobehavioral disorders like autism, ADHD, OCD, etc.. We are seeing similar benefits to a lifestyle systems biology based approach to neuron salvage and regeneration in our population. 

 

Dr. M
Foods to Maximize

The more that I read the more I realize that greens are the way to go for health and vitality. Eating large volumes of leafy green vegetables is a recipe for success in the fight against disease. 

I have started to add 3 cups of organic greens to my daily diet. The nutrient density in these 3 cups is intense. I buy organic greens from Trader Joes and freeze 5-10 bags at a time. Some days I will eat a whole bag of mixed greens saut�ed with EVOO, garlic and onions. 

Your healthy gut bacteria love greens. Your DNA loves the folic acid and methyl groups that are given. Your nervous system loves the A vitamins. Your blood and brain love the iron. Your bones love the magnesium and calcium. Your blood needs the vitamin K for clotting function. 

My wife and I have made it our mission to keep increasing greens in our children's diet. They already are good salad eaters, but we are aiming higher. The other day, my wife made ridiculously good Italian wedding soup with an oversized bag of spinach in it. Our kids were skeptical at first, but the flavor won the day. As opposed to books like Seinfeld's wife's cookbook (I hate this philosophy) that espouse hiding the GOOD food from your kids, we want them to see it, eat it and be strong. 

Work toward more daily greens.

 

Cooking Class

Save the date!

March 19th at the Center for the Environment at Catawba College.

Time: 6:30PM.

We will be hosting a cooking demonstration. Dr. Chris Nagy, Nicole Magryta RD/MBA and I will answer all types of questions about food, mood, the gut and human health while we cook.

We plan to make bone broth, ghee, teach pickling and maybe even kombucha. The primary goal of this lecture is to discuss gut healing foods and how to make them. Now that Nicole is coming, the nutritional cooking information just exploded. Bring your questions and we will bring the answers.

SOLD OUT. WE APPARENTLY HAVE REACHED THE MAXIMUM FOR THE AUDITORIUM IN 10 DAYS. WOW. EXCITING. SORRY TO ANYONE THAT PLANNED ON SIGNING UP BUT DID NOT MAKE IT IN TIME. WE MAY LOOK AT DOING A REPEAT PERFORMANCE IN THE FALL. 

See you there!

Dr.M 
Recipe of the Week

Add greens to smoothies, saut� them, add to soup, eat as a salad, get them any way you can. 

 

Visit cookinglight.com for recipes with greens in them. 

 

Dr. M

 

 


 


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Copyright � 2010-2015 Christopher J. Magryta, MD. Readers, please note: The information provided in this newsletter is for educational and informational purposes only. It is not a substitute for advice and treatment provided by your physician or other healthcare professional and is not to be used to diagnose or treat a health issue.


 


Chris Magryta
Salisbury Pediatric Associates
Touchstone Pediatrics